Thermostat



Amir 1o,v :92a 1,665,719

L. W. SCHNEPP THERMOSTAT Filed April 11. 1927 Ilatented Apr.'10, 19.28'.- 4

UNITED STATES lPATENT lo FFI'CE. N

LOUIS W. SCHNEPR OF SAN BERNABDINO, CALIFORNIA.

. THERMOSTAT.

' Applicationv filed April 11, 1927. Serial N0. 182,775.

5. jects of my invention are to generally imment o proveupon and simplify the. constructlon of theexisting forms of thermostats; gto rovide a devlce of the character referre to that depends wholly on the flexing moveoneof its members for imparting movement to a valve, or other element that is to be actuated; to provide a thermostat that does not utilize an expansible li uid or gas; and to provide a thermostat t at is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive-,of

manufacture and extremely sensitive to temperature changes.

An further object of my invention ii: to

provide a thermostat that is composed of two disks of metal, one of which is. .formed 5 formed of a relatively of metal that is not appreciably acted upon by temperature changes and which is therefore practically -ri 'd and will retain its original shape, an the other 'disk bein thin piece of meta that is highly sensltive to tem erature changes and the edges of the two. dis s being firmly secured to eachother so that under temperature chan es the relatively thin flexible disk can on move outwardl away from the rigid disk or the one whic is not susceptible to temperature changes.

A thermostatic disk of my im roved construction is`, by reason of its abi ity to move or snap quickly fromV one position to another, especially applicable for use in controlling the flow of gas or liquid hydrocarbon to an automatic heater or burner, and rfor automatically controlling the flow of air, water and steam in heating systems and the like.

.v lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed and illustrated .m the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a gas valve that isequipped with a thermostat of my improved construction and which valve is shown in position on a household water heater. Y

Fig. 2 is an enlar vertical sectlon taken @ll lille L.' l'

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line'B-S of Fig. 1. Referring by'numerals tothe accompanying d rawlngs, 10 designates 4a valve housing that 1s adapted to be positioned on the tank 11 o f a household water heater and said `housin being secured to said tank by means of a exible metal strap 12 that encircles the tank and the ends of -which strap are connectedto the sides of thev valve housing in any suitable manner, preferably by means of-screws or bolts 13. l

A gas su pliy pipe` 14 leads to lan inlet port 15 in tlie ower portion of the housing 10 and arranged on the inner face of the fr ont lwall ofthe housing isa short'v tubular member 16 that is provided at its o en lend with an annular valve seat 17. from the chamber within this tubular member 16 downwardly through the housing 10, is a duct 18` and leading from the lower end of said duct to the gas burnet` that is arranged in the lower portion of Iitank 11, is a pipe 19.

. A disk valve 20 is adapted to rest on seat 17 Vand projecting `axially from said disk valve is a stem 21 that is arranged for sliding movement in a recess 22 that is'for-med in the center of tubular member 16. Interposed between the front wall of the valve ousing and the rear side of valve 20,v is a relatively light coil s ring 23 that normally holds valve 20 away rom its seat 17 My improved thermostat comprises a lished or concavo-convex disk 24 that is preferably formed of steel or similar metal that is not affected by temperature changes within a normal range and yformed atthe center of this disk, is a circular opening 25 thatis surrounded b a short flange 26 that pro'ects outwardly rom the convex side of sai disk.

Secured in any suitable manner to the flange 26 and enclosing the same is a metal cap 27, the external face of the c lindrical lngflbuter face of said cap lies flush with ading portion of which is threaded in or er that it .the outer face of said rear wall and .thus

' ble manner to the edge of the rigid disk 24.

I prefer to secure the edges of the two' disks to each other by bending the edge of the rigid disk 24 over the edge of the resilient disk 29'and, in order to reinforce the rigid diskadjacent toA its edge, there is formed in said disk adjacent to its turned.,- over edge, a concentric rib or bead 30 that projects 'outwardly from the concave surface of said disk.

The resilient disk 29 is constructed so that, under normal conditions, it occupies a dished position with its inner face bearing directly against the inner face of the rigid disk 24 and thus the entire inner surfaces of the two disks are normally in contact with each other. A rib or bead 31 is formed adjacent to the edge of the resilient disk 29 and which rib or bead actuates the rib or bead 30 on the rigiddisk 24.

Under normal conditions, the resilient disk 29 lies directly against the concavo-convex rigid disk 24 and the disk valve 20 bears against the central portion of said resilient disk, which valve is forced into contact with said disk by spring 23. As long as the valve 20 is held away from its seat, gas or the like may flow from supply pipe 14v through port 15 to the interior of the housin and said gas passes through tubular mem er 1G and thence through duct 18 to pipe 19 that leads to the burner. The operation of the burner that is supplied by pipe 19 heats the water within tank 11 and as the cap 27 is in direct Contact with the' wall of the tank, said cap and the thermostat comprising-the disks 24 and 29 will absorb heat from said tank and when a predetermined temperature has been reached, the resilient disk 29 will flex outwardly with a quick snapping action and, as

a result, valve 2O will be instantly moved onto its seat, thereby cutting off the further tlow of gas through housing 10.

Upon a lowering of the temperature, the resilient disk 29 will return to its normal dished position against the rigid disk 24, whereupon spring 23 will act to unseat valve 20 and consequently permit gas to flow through the housing to the burner of the tank.

A thermostatof my improved construction i is comparatively simple, may be easily and cheaply produced, does not require a v:fluid that is highly sensitive to temperature changes, and is very accurate and sensitive in-operation, due to the fact that one of the disks is at all times and under all conditions practically rigid and the resilient disk which normally occupies a'dished position against the rigid disk can only flex or move in one direction under rising temperatures and which movement is necessarily in an outward direction away from the rigid disk and the edgeof which latter firmly supports the edge of the resilient disk.

An especially advantageous feature of my improved thermostat is the quick' snap ing action of the resilient disk as it moves rom one position to the other, such uick action being especially desirable in or er to bring about a quick opening or closing of a valve or like fluid control member. thermostat may be utilized for opening and closing an electric circuit and, likewise, it may be advantageously employed in con- Obviously the trolling the supply of steam and heated air y or water in heating systems.

It will be understood hat minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved thermostat may be made and su s in shown and described withoutl departing from thespirit of my invention, the scope of` which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as Vmy invention:

1. A thermostat comprising a dished ri id disk, a disk of resilient metal having its e e firmly secured to the edge of the rigid dis which. resilient disk is normally dished against said rgid disk and a hollow member projecting outwardly from the central p0rtion of the rigid disk o n the convex surface thereof.

2. In a thermostat, a rigid dished metal disk, a resilient disk of metal that is hi hly responsive to .temperature changes, wlgeich resilient disk is normally dished against the rigid disk, the edges of the two disks being rigidly connected and a hollowmember projecting outwardly from the central portion of the rigid disk on the convex surface thereof.

3. In a thermostat, a rigid dished metal disk, a resilient disk of metal that is hi hly responsive to temperature changes which resilient disk is normally dished yagainst the .metal that is highly sensitive tog-temperature changes and an externally threadedhollow tituted for. those hereies one of which is rigid, the other disk being formed of resilient metal that .is highly responsive to temperature changes, the edge of the rigid disk being bent over and clamped to the edge of the resilient disk, the cen- 10 ter of the rigidodisk beingv provided with s. flanged opening and an externally threaded cap secured to. said rigidrdisk and closing said flanged opening. 4

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

LOUIS W. SCHNEPP. 

